One of the more broad spectrum problems in the world is the continued use and waste of resources in general. Including water, food and energy these are the basic things that any civilization needs to exsist and if these resources are not managed well enough there may be far reaching problems.

Problem: Resource Consumption for the most part is equal or slightly less than resource production. Most experts agree that at the current consumption rates the human population will not be able to sustain itself in two generations unless things change. Also it should be noted that while consumption is very high it is not equal over 90% of the worlds resources are consumed by westernized nations inhabitted by less then half the population. Another problem with resources is that the majority of poverty stricken areas have few resources to develope in the first place. The resources that are used tend to be abused, such as slash and burn practices that are often used in portions of South America as Asia.

Solutions: One solution would be to simply reduce the resources that you do use- wasteless food, use less water with everday activies, buy less of the things you don't really need. The sizes of houses have been steadily increasing since the 50's while the average family size has been shrinking. Reduce Reuse and Recycle are generally good words to use when considering actions for the future. Other ideas include new legislation reducing imports and opening up free markets to differnt countries so that competition for resources is not so fixed.

Other Links of Interest:

University of Oregon: Environmental Studies page with good links to sources

Encyclopedia Earth:  Environmental watchdogs with well backed sources and citations

World Resource Institute Website with articles on resource usage around the world and management plans

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